Chapter 2 — The Man Who Gave Me His Card

"Father."

I said it while staring at the gun. Father ordered Renato to lower it, and he did. Luca stepped back without even wiping the blood from his mouth.

Nicola wrenched his wrist free.

"I'll be billing you for the losses at the port."

"I'm already speaking to your father. Take it up with him."

Father turned his phone face down. Nicola had seen the name on its screen; he fell silent. I looked at Andrea.

"Where's your driver?"

"He went back."

He repeated it to Renato. When I moved to leave, Andrea started after me, but stopped when Father called his name.

I went into the corridor alone. Mother took my arm to steady me.

"Come up to your room."

"When did you find out? That I'd been to the hospital."

"Before you came home."

She didn't answer when I asked whether she'd known while those men were being summoned. Renato stood at the foot of the stairs.

My room held no suitcases. The clothes I'd laid out had been hung back in the wardrobe. When I opened a drawer, the passport I'd hidden beneath my underwear was gone too.

"Who came in here?"

"He ordered the luggage put away."

"And you stood there and watched?"

"It was already done when I arrived."

Mother watched my face rather than the empty drawer. If I started shouting, she'd be the one expected to soothe me. I pushed the drawer closed.

"I'm not going to live the way you do."

She laid a cardigan on the bed. I asked her to leave. She had already opened the door when she looked back.

"Go into the examination room alone tomorrow."

The door closed before I could ask why.

Andrea called.

"Are you alone? They haven't locked your door?"

I tried the handle. There was a housekeeper in the hall. I shut the door again.

"Is my money safe?"

"It's still in your name."

We'd broken up two months earlier, but I'd left my personal accounts with him because he managed the family's funds. I'd asked him to move my money somewhere Father couldn't touch it. We'd also made plans to leave together.

"Where's your driver?"

"They beat him when he tried to stop them taking me. They took him away. I don't know where."

I sat on the bed. Since we'd started seeing each other again, all we'd talked about was flights and money. Today I needed a different answer.

"The baby could be yours."

He was silent for a long time.

"I'll take the test if you want. Whatever the result, the money comes back to you."

"I'm scared, Andrea."

"Sera, don't tell anyone your departure date today."

"It's already fallen apart."

"Even so. No matter who asks."

I heard footsteps outside and ended the call first. When I opened the door, nobody was coming for me. A stranger's voice rose from downstairs.

I went down, intending to tell Father I needed my passport. The study door stood open. A man in a black jacket was waiting outside it.

"Where is Andrea?"

He was asking Renato.

"Resting."

"So exhausted he can't answer his phone?"

"I understood you came to negotiate."

"Because the Bellones have frozen the port. No one mentioned they'd detained my brother as well."

I stopped on the last stair. He turned his head before I could speak. His eyes were sharper than Andrea's. I thought they looked alike, but I couldn't bring myself to look away.

He glanced down at my bare feet, then raised his eyes to my face. Only then did I curl my toes, embarrassed. Everything I'd prepared to say to Father lodged in my throat in front of this man instead.

When he turned towards the study, I spoke first.

"Does Andrea know you're here?"

"If he answers his phone, you can ask him yourself."

He was still looking at me when he said his brother's name. For the first time, I wondered how much Andrea had told him about me.

"Sera Bellone?"

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"Ethan. Andrea's older brother."

I released the banister. Andrea had only ever told me that he and his brother had lived apart for years. He'd never shown me a photograph.

"Are you here to find your brother or to do business?"

"Which answer would make you talk to me?"

"Ask my father."

I tried to pass him. Ethan stepped aside, but Renato blocked the study door.

"You should go back upstairs, miss."

"Give me my passport back."

Renato's gaze flicked past me. He'd realised before I did that an outsider was listening.

"We'll discuss that later."

"How many more times do I have to hear that?"

Ethan came to stand beside me. I nearly asked him to help, then shut my mouth. He hadn't touched me, but my shoulders had already tightened.

"Is blocking her way part of your arrangement?"

Renato looked at him.

"It's a family matter."

"Does my brother count as part of that family?"

From inside the study, Father called for Ethan. Instead of answering, Ethan offered me a small business card.

I didn't take it.

"That isn't what I need."

"Call if there's something you need to say about my brother."

He didn't press it on me. I didn't want Renato watching me accept it, so I turned slightly away. Ethan waited without looking at Renato either.

The card bore a name and number. I'd seen that name in the Caridi family's negotiation papers. Father used to underline it in red.

I accepted the card. My fingertips brushed his before he let go. When he withdrew his hand, I moved the card into my other one.

If he'd noticed, he gave no sign. He met my eyes without smiling.

"Ethan."

Father was calling again. This time Ethan turned. I took a step after him.

"Don't leave after listening to nothing but my father."

He stopped.

"Then who should I listen to?"

I almost said me, but thought of Andrea. I couldn't tell this man the departure date I'd just promised his brother I'd keep secret.

Ethan waited for an answer, then glanced at the card.

"We can talk when you're ready to speak."

He passed Renato and entered the study. Father closed the door behind him. I stared at the number before folding the card. The crease pressed into my palm.